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LC INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOBIOLOGY > Psychopharmacology > Flashcards

Psychopharmacology Flashcards

1
Q

what is psychopharmacology?

A

the interaction between psychoactive drugs and the body

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2
Q

what are psychoactive drugs able to do?

A
  • alter neurotransmission
  • affect mood or behaviour
  • be effective in managing psychological problems
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3
Q

what can psychopharmacology explain?

A

how the brain works and the causes of different psychiatric disorders, in order to lead to better treatments

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4
Q

what is psychopharmacology helpful for?

A

dealing with problematic drug use, such as the concerns with health consequences and the controversy of drug use to aid psychiatric disorders

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5
Q

what is pharmacokinetics?

A

the study of how drugs are handled in the body

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6
Q

routes of administration

A

oral
rectal
intravenous
transdermal
inhalation
sublingual

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7
Q

benefits of oral admission

A
  • convenient
  • cheapest route
  • easy to use
  • safe and acceptable
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8
Q

limitations of oral admission

A
  • less amount of drug reaches target tissue
  • slow absorption must take place
  • not preferred in emergency situations
  • unpredictable amount
  • might cause gastric irritation
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9
Q

benefits of rectal admission

A
  • avoids nausea
  • one of the only options if the patient is unconscious
  • drug cannot be destroyed by enzymes in the body
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10
Q

limitations of rectal admission

A
  • reduced surface area can limit absorption
  • can cause irritation
  • patients may refuse to take them
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11
Q

benefits of intravenous admission

A
  • quick and precise effect
  • preferred method for unconscious patients
  • can control the amount of drug in blood circulation
  • preferred for emergencies as the drug reaches blood stream immediately
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12
Q

limitations of intravenous admission

A
  • requires skill to inject
  • greater risk of injection
  • risk of blood clots
  • expensive
  • can be painful or lead to inflammation
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13
Q

benefits of transdermal admission

A
  • pain-free self-administration
  • releases drugs into blood plasma at a slow and steady rate
  • ease of use
  • less frequent drug use
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14
Q

limitations of transdermal admission

A
  • potential for allergic reaction to patch or adhesives
  • tough barrier of skin
  • unsuitable in emergency situations
  • drug must be potent or else patches would be too large
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15
Q

benefits of inhalation admission

A
  • fewer doses required
  • can be used for unconscious patients
  • local delivery to target area
  • beneficial for asthmatic patients
  • drug takes effect quickly via absorption
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16
Q

limitations of inhalation admission

A
  • can lead to further breathing issues
  • special apparatus required
  • may irritate lungs with prolonged use
  • expensive
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17
Q

benefits of sublingual admission

A
  • dissolved easily
  • spitting out the drug removes its effect
  • drug enters the blood quickly through rapid absorption
  • avoids drug disruption
  • easy to monitor amount taken
  • used during emergencies for a fast effect
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18
Q

limitations of sublingual admission

A
  • drug may be accidentally swallowed
  • inconvenient
  • eating can inhibit absorption
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19
Q

how are drugs able to gain access to blood plasma?

A

by crossing cell membranes

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20
Q

what can the diffusion of drugs across the lipid membrane be affected by?

A
  • lipid-soluble and small molecules diffuse best
  • un-ionised drug molecules are more lipid-soluble
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21
Q

by circulating through the blood plasma, what are drugs able to gain access to?

A

tissue sites

22
Q

what do drugs encounter at these tissue sites?

A

receptors that they have an affinity to

they bind to these receptors, which brings about the pharmacological response

23
Q

what is the target site for psychoactive drugs?

A

typically the brain

24
Q

how do side effects of psychoactive drugs occur?

A

the plasma is still able to reach other parts of the body, as receptors bind outside of the target site

25
Q

how are some drugs inactivated once distributed in the body?

how does this prevent them from accessing target sites?

A
  • being stored in fat
  • being attached to blood plasma proteins

because they are unable to enter the brain

26
Q

how can drug molecules be prevented from entering the brain?

A

brain capillaries are surrounded by a dense wall structure of glial cells

this means that even lipid-soluble molecules cannot easily cross the blood brain barrier

27
Q

where does the process of metabolism mainly occur?

A

in the liver, where there are enzymes that are important in aiding drug transformation

28
Q

why does metabolism take place?

A

drugs which cannot be eliminated must undergo the process of transformation, as it is essential for drugs to be removed from the body

29
Q

different routes of elimination

A

urine via the kidneys (only possible for water-soluble compounds, meaning that fat-soluble drugs must undergo metabolism)

via the lungs

via sweat and hair

30
Q

agonist drugs

A

enhance the effects of a neurotransmitter

31
Q

antagonist drugs

A

block the effects of a neurotransmitter by binding to a receptor

32
Q

direct agonist

A

mimic the effects of a particular neurotransmitter by binding to the same postsynaptic receptors and producing a similar response

33
Q

indirect agonist

A

enhances the action of a neurotransmitter by releasing the drug into the synaptic cleft or blocking reuptake

34
Q

full agonist

A

fully reproduce the effect of the endogenous neurotransmitter

35
Q

partial agonist

A

will not achieve the full maximal effect of the neurotransmitter

36
Q

direct antagonist

A

prevent neurotransmitters from binding to the same site on the receptor
‘receptor blocker’

37
Q

indirect antagonist

A

inhibit the release of neurotransmitters

38
Q

inverse agonist

A

binds to a receptor and brings about an effect, but this effect is the opposite

39
Q

what does the magnitude of a drug-receptor effect depend on?

A
  • concentration at the target site
  • the affinity of the drug for the receptor site
40
Q

how can drug efficacy and potency be quantified by?

A

a dose-resonse curve

41
Q

what does plotting the dose-response curve allow?

A

plotting the relationship between drug dose and response allows comparison of the pharmacological profile of drugs

42
Q

drug efficacy

A

a measure to the extent to which a drug stimulates its target receptors

43
Q

potency

A

the amount of drug required to produce a specific effect

44
Q

ED50

A

is the dose producing half the maximal effect
(a measure of potency)
efficacious dose

45
Q

allosteric modulation

A

a chemical (modulator) binds to a different part of the receptor than the neurotransmitter, and alters the receptor’s response by changing the shape

46
Q

what is the therapeutic index?

A

gives a measure of the relative safety of a drug, by comparing the difference between the therapeutic effect and the toxic effect

47
Q

therapeutic index

A

LD50/ED50

100 is high and a wide separation between the two is desired

48
Q

LD50

A

lethal dose

49
Q

half-life

A

the time required for a quantity to reduce to half of its initial value

50
Q

what does a longer half-life mean?

A

the drug sticks around longer

LC INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOBIOLOGY (8 decks)

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